Tim Tebow does “truly believe” he is ready to become the Broncos’ full-time starting quarterback this year.

“I’m looking forward to the competition to prove that I can do that,” he said in a phone interview.

On April 22, 2010, the Broncos astonished the NFL by choosing Tebow as the 25th overall selection in the NFL draft.

“It has been kind of a whirlwind since this time a year ago,” Tebow said. “I had no idea it would be like it was.”

Today, Easter Sunday, one of the nation’s most prominent Christian athletes will attend church in Atlanta and share dinner with his family, and not practice football or work out for one of the few times all offseason. Timmy, as he calls himself, talked about a wide variety of issues as the anniversary of his joining the Broncos a year ago approaches, including why he believes he’s ready to lead the Broncos.

Q: Reflections of the past year?

A: It was such a learning curve, and I think I improved so much. I’m a completely different player/person. Much of that has to do with this offseason. I’m training really hard, working on my weaknesses. I can’t wait for next season to get back out there. Starting the last three games, that was a huge learning opportunity — to discover what I did well, what I did bad, what I have to work on and what came to me quick and what wasn’t so easy for me. The more I play, the more comfortable I’ll be. The first year was an incredible experience.

Q: Your strengths and weaknesses?

A: I’d say the strength I’d look at is it’s still football, and I still have the ability to play quarterback, run around, make things happen, improvise, and it wasn’t too fast for me. It felt the same as high school and college. It wasn’t anything like “Oh, shoot, this is the NFL, this is hard. I can’t do this.” If anything, by playing, it gave me that much more confidence because I thought, “Wow, I can really play at a high level.” I’d done it successfully before, and these were the same guys I had been doing it against in college. My biggest weakness was the timing of certain plays. For instance, I had two “go” routes against San Diego, one on the left to (Brandon) Lloyd, one on the right to (Jabar) Gaffney, and on the first I was too late with the play-action, and Brandon already got out of his break and was too close to the sidelines. So we had a 15-yard route for a first down, but I didn’t make the throw. I had the same play on the other side, and my timing wasn’t there. It wasn’t because of my arm strength, delivery or lack of understanding of the plays, but a lack of reps. I also found out that while I can use my athletic ability to scramble, I can’t take too many hits. We were doing whatever we could to win because they were two crazy games, but it’s not good to play too recklessly.

Q: John Elway has said you are raw as a quarterback and must become a better pocket passer. What’s your response?

A: I haven’t taken a snap in the offseason from the shotgun. It’s all been under center, 5 and 7 (yard) drops and passes from the pocket. I’ve done that thousands of times, working out six-seven hours a day, seven days a week. There’s a big, positive difference.

Q: Did the limitation of the playbook inhibit you in your starts last year?

A: The last two games we used more of the playbook, but it still wasn’t all the way. We changed some plays to fit my game, especially in the second half against Houston and San Diego, when we said, “We’re just going to go out there and play to win, not just play to keep ourselves in there.” And we accomplished a lot more.

Q: How much is the lockout hurting your progress, especially because Kyle Orton has been named the starter? What do you think about that decision?

A: I look at everything as a positive. A lot of players look at this lockout as a way to relax and enjoy their families, and that’s great, but I look at it as an opportunity to get better. When other guys are resting, I think I’m getting an edge on everybody else.

A: It’s going to be a similar offense, with a few tweaks here and there to utilize what I can do. I’ve got a good grasp on what we’re doing. Before the lockout, I spent a lot of time with the coaches going through the playbook, and understanding what they want from me.

Q: Are you ready to be the full-time starter?

A: I truly believe so. I’m looking forward to the competition to prove I can do that.

Q: One of the (fired) members of the McDaniels organization told me you have an incredible will to win and made great strides last year, but he wondered if you did enough preparation away from Dove Valley.

A: He’s entitled to his opinion. That’s something I take a lot of pride in, studying and watching film. I tried to be the first one in and the last one to leave every day. I read the playbook over and over.

Q: What is your relationship with new quarterbacks coach Adam Gase?

A: I’m excited about Goose. That’s what I call him. He’ll do a great job. I love how he teaches. I spent a lot of time with him and Mike McCoy during the offseason before the lockout.

Q: There are as many questions about Auburn’s Cam Newton going into the draft this year as there were about you last year. He was your backup for a season at Florida. Have you talked?

A: I talked to him when we did an event together, and I think he took what I said to heart. There’s always one thing you have to evaluate about athletic, running quarterbacks. If they didn’t run, would they have been great passers and won a lot of games? We both would have been good quarterbacks in any offense. I’m not sure how it’s going to translate for Cam, but I know he’s very gifted.

Q: You seem to be busy this offseason with the workouts, the commercial endorsements, the charity work, the appearances, and your foundation. Are you spreading yourself too thin?

A: I’m spending 95 percent of my time working on football, and the rest on the foundation and other things. I did the Jockey commercials in two days in January. Football is my priority.

Q: Your dad told me that when you were a baby, he wanted you to become the world’s greatest evangelist. On Easter weekend, do you think about eventually become an evangelist, or a politician?

A: I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know I want to be involved in helping people’s lives for as long as I live. So whatever that means, I want to make a positive difference. I don’t know completely how I’m going to do that, but it’s in my heart.

Q: A year later, people still have polarizing opinions about you as an NFL quarterback. How are you affected?

A: There’s always going to be the naysayers that don’t believe I can do it, but that fuels me. I really want to prove 24 teams they were wrong. I don’t know that the criticism will ever stop, but I’m just going to keep chugging along, grinding and getting better. I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m going to enjoy the journey, and I can’t wait to see what happens this year with the Broncos.

Q: The University of Florida unveiled a bronze statue of you outside “The Swamp” with the Bible verse John 3:16 on the eye black. What do you think?

A: Very humbling, and weird. They didn’t ask me, but that’s the verse I’d choose.

Q: Let’s see how much you know about the Bible. What’s the shortest verse?

Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson had butterflies before Sunday's game against the Detroit Red Wings. It wasn't because of the big-name opponent, but rather his return from a 13-game injury absence and being stoked to rejoin a team in a playoff push and looking for its third postseason appearance in 10 years.